MONTREAL – The company behind restaurants like Thai Express, Cold Stone Creamery and Mucho Burrito says it’s weighing a potential sale and other options to boost investor returns.
The board of MTY Food Group Inc. has launched a strategic review and engaged a financial adviser “to identify, review and evaluate potential strategic alternatives with a view toward continuing to enhance shareholder value,” the Montreal-based fast-food franchisor said in a news release Monday.
“The company is exploring a range of such alternatives including, but not limited to, a sale of all or part of the company as well as continuing to execute its current business plan.”
MTY cautioned that there’s no assurance a transaction will happen.
Its statement came after Reuters reported the company had hired TD Bank to explore a potential sale.
MTY Foods says it has over 80 brands and more than 7,000 locations globally.
The company’s shares closed up $4.54 or 13.5 per cent at $38.27 on the day, leaving it with a market capitalization of $874 million.
In its most recent quarter, MTY saw its net income attributable to shareholders fall 20 per cent to $27.9 million.
MTY’s share price has been under pressure this year as the fast-food sector struggles with rising prices, industry competition and general economic volatility.
On a quarterly conference call with analysts last month, chief executive Eric Lefebvre said MTY is hungry for acquisitions, but that nothing on offer so far has been appetizing.
But he said when the market shifts in MTY’s favour, it will be ready.
“It’s just a matter of us to be at the table for those right deals when they come in and to be able to make them cross the finish line,” he said on the call.
Growth has long been on MTY’s radar but has become even more important as macroeconomic volatility stemming from a global trade war, industry competition and rising prices sweeps the fast-food sector and beyond.
The CEO of another player in Canada’s restaurant scene said recently that his company has also been on the hunt for acquisitions.
Peter Mammas of Foodtastic Inc. said in July that he was looking to snap up big brands north and south on the border that specialize in breakfast, quick-serve, pizza and burgers, sushi, shawarma, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern fare.
Foodtastic, also based in Montreal, has 1,200 locations across its 27 chains, which include Second Cup, Milestones, Freshii and Quesada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2025.
Companies in this story: (TSX:MTY)
